Conservationists today called for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to change its focus towards protecting whales instead of "managing" how many are killed each year.

At the start of the 60th annual meeting of the international body, environmental groups urged the 81 nations gathered in Chile to end commercial whaling for good.

And they want the IWC to adopt proposals for the establishment of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary to give more protection to whales.

A worldwide ban on commercial whaling was put in place by by the IWC in 1986, but several countries continue to hunt commercially, or under the guise of "scientific" whaling.

Some 30,000 whales have been killed since the ban came in, with 2,000 slaughtered last year by Japan, Norway and Iceland.

Greenpeace today demanded an end to Japan's "scientific" whaling of around 1,000 whales annually in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which it said was simply commercial whaling by another name.

According to Greenpeace, the future of the IWC is under debate at the meeting in Santiago, Chile, and urged the organisation to change from one that works for whalers into one that works for whales.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said the commission had been deadlocked in recent years as pro-whaling nations Japan, Iceland and Norway blocked conservation efforts.

Any compromise at the meeting which might threaten the moratorium on commercial whaling must be rejected, Ifaw said.

Ifaw UK director Robbie Marsland said: "Whales face more threats today than at any time in history. IWC member countries need to focus on whale conservation and end commercial whaling once and for all."

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) said the IWC should turn its attention from regulating hunting to whale watching, which it said generated more than £600 million a year in 90 countries.

In its Time To Refocus report, backed by groups including the RSPCA, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and Ifaw, the WSPA also called for non-lethal research on whales to understand their behaviour and the threats they face, such as climate change.

On the opening day of the meeting today the WSPA, along with other groups including WWF, is urging EU ministers to vote against a proposal to increase Greenland's aboriginal subsistence whaling quota by 10 humpback whales.

A report by the charity released last week said that a quarter of the aboriginal quota in Greenland is sold on through supermarkets, although it should not be used for commercial purposes.

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokesman said: "The UK strongly supports the worldwide ban on commercial whaling and opposes all forms of whaling, other than some limited subsistence whaling by indigenous people.

"Whaling is cruel and unnecessary. Whale-watching is the only truly sustainable way to benefit from whales.

"The UK remains strongly opposed to any attempt to lift or weaken the ban and we want to see it strengthened in the future."

The spokesman said the UK would defend existing whale sanctuaries in the Indian and Southern oceans and support any new sanctuaries proposed at the IWC meeting.